Whereas, in March 2006, the then-teenage woman known in
media reports as the Girl of Qatif
was abducted and raped by 7
men;
Whereas the Girl of Qatif
endured
significant physical and emotional harm as a result of her rape—a crime that
was neither her fault nor acceptable under any circumstances;
Whereas, in October 2006, the General Court in Qatif,
Saudi Arabia sentenced the 7 rapists to prison terms ranging from 10 months to
5 years, but also sentenced the victim to 90 lashes for being alone in a car
with a man to whom she was not related;
Whereas, on November 13, 2007, when the Girl of
Qatif
appealed the decision of the General Court with her attorney,
Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, the victim’s sentence was increased to 200 lashes, a
6-month prison term was added, and the prison terms of the rapists were
increased to 2 to 9 years;
Whereas, also on November 13, 2007, the General Court
suspended Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem’s license to practice law, and he was summoned
to appear before a disciplinary committee of the Ministry of Justice of Saudi
Arabia on December 5, 2007, for allegedly misrepresenting legal subjects
through the media to confuse the judicial establishment’s image and thus
harming the country
, but his hearing was postponed to an unspecified
date;
Whereas, on November 20 and 24, 2007, the Ministry of
Justice issued statements on the case of the Girl of Qatif
,
alleging that the victim was guilty of an illegal affair
that is
religiously prohibited
, that she was in an indecent
condition
at the time of her abduction, and that the main reason
for the occurrence of the crime
was that the victim and her
accompanying person violated the provisions of Islamic law
, but
Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem has denied these accusations;
Whereas, when asked about the case of the Girl of
Qatif
on November 20, 2007, Department of State spokesman Sean
McCormack stated, We have expressed our astonishment at such a sentence.
I think that when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is
punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment. But
it is within the power of the Saudi Government to take a look at the verdict
and change it
;
Whereas, on November 27, 2007, the Foreign Minister of
Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud bin Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, stated that the
judiciary of Saudi Arabia would further review the case of the Girl of
Qatif
;
Whereas the Department of State’s 2006 Country Report on
Human Rights Practices in Saudi Arabia (referred to in this preamble as the
2006 Country Report), released on March 6, 2007, cited significant human
rights problems
, including infliction of severe pain by
judicially sanctioned corporal punishments
, denial of fair
public trials
, exemption from the rule of law for some
individuals and lack of judicial independence
, and significant
restriction of civil liberties—freedoms of speech and press, including the
Internet; assembly; association; and movement
;
Whereas the 2006 Country Report also stated that Islamic
law, or Shari’a, prohibits abuse and violence against all innocent persons,
including women, yet reportedly spousal abuse and other forms of violence
against women were common problems, although the Government did not keep
statistics on such violence and abuse;
Whereas the 2006 Country Report also cited complaints that
judges often acted capriciously and did not base judgments on precedent,
leading to widely divergent rulings
;
Whereas the 2006 Country Report also stated that, A
woman’s testimony does not carry the same weight as a man. In a Shari’a court,
the testimony of one man equals that of two women
;
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at
Paris December 10, 1948, stipulates that all human beings have the right to
security of person, that, All are equal before the law and are entitled
without any discrimination to equal protection of the law
, and that,
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment or punishment
;
Whereas the legal system of Saudi Arabia is based on
Shari’a and does not mandate specific punishments for many offenses, leaving
judges with wide discretion in issuing verdicts; and
Whereas, in October 2007, the King of Saudi Arabia,
Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, issued a decree to reform aspects of the
country’s judicial system, including new training for judges, changes to the
appeals process, and the establishment of two supreme courts to replace the
Supreme Judicial Council as the final recourse after courts of first instance
and appellate courts: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)respects the
sovereign rights of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;
(2)welcomes the
commitment of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to reform its
judicial system;
(3)condemns sexual
violence in all forms;
(4)urges the
Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to undertake robust efforts to
address the significant problem of violence against women in the society of
Saudi Arabia, to promote equal treatment of women in the country’s legal
system, and to ensure that victims of sexual violence are not punished for the
crimes committed against them and have access to and recourse through the
country’s legal system to bring the perpetrators of such violence to
justice;
(5)urges the
Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to overturn the sentence of the
Girl of Qatif
of 200 lashes and 6 months in prison; and
(6)expresses
solidarity with the Girl of Qatif
and the women of Saudi Arabia
in their efforts to address violence against women and attain equal treatment
in their country's legal system, and with the many citizens of Saudi Arabia who
were outraged by the sentence of the Girl of Qatif
.